Farewell, Google Friend Connect

You know you need to update your site more often when a widget you’ve been trying to add for over a year gets discontinued – and you’re the last person to find out. A while ago, when I first started this site, I dreamed of glory and riches (it’s just the riches now) and tried to add Google Friend Connect to my page. Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be, which is why the only way to get updates from my site is a very nearly anachronistic email subscription. (I’m pretty sure the concept of email updates is over 20 years old.)

Oddly enough, a whopping 22 people must have been bored enough to subscribe for email notifications. Fast-forward to today, a lazy April Sunday: I got into that rare state of mind that motivates me to clean my apartment, update my resume or do something equally time-consuming and objectively useless. I decided to give GFC another try and lo and behold! – I found an easy way to install the widget. The only problem is that Google disabled it over a month ago to force people to switch over to Google+. Kind of a low move on their part… I’m sure at this point Google knows me better than anybody else in the world, what with them keeping a detailed search history of pretty much every person who’s ever been online, but starting a G+ account feels like giving in completely. It’s bad enough that I have a Facebook addiction – I don’t have time for yet another evil multibillion corporation!

*le sigh* Chances are, I’ll submit to our digital overlords and join their network eventually, but for now I’m going to keep looking for another way to create a network of followers. GFC was so convenient and easy to use. Perhaps most importantly, it wasn’t needy. It never used to bombard me with email notifications or ask if I’d like to install yet another new update. It just worked – simple as that. I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that there’ll be a fair number of bloggers who won’t switch to G+ when GFC finally gets shut down. (For some reason, it’s still running – you just can’t sign up for a new account.) This may be one of those rare instances when Google made a mistake that will cost them traffic and revenue. Why fix something that wasn’t broken, Google?..